“The sun is shining, I am shining: this is just a wonderful event.” These are the words of Lieuwe Koopmans of the Equestrian Center in Exloo. After two corona years, he is happy that the international top of horse driving has returned to the village.
“We have been organizing international driving here for several years now. This is really the first real qualification for the participants for the upcoming European Championships or World Championships. We really give the go-ahead here,” said Koopmans.
Extra village
To house the more than a hundred participants, including horses, an extra village has been built next to the Equestrian Center in Exloo, as it were. “You need about ten hectares of land. You have to have the soil in order so that the horses don’t get injured. And of course good catering for the employees,” Koopmans sums up.
“It’s also really nice with each other,” says participant Sietske Flobbe from Appelscha. Of course she hopes to finish high in the rankings, just like her competitors, but she also praises the friendly atmosphere surrounding the event: “Here are friends from Friesland around the corner. So in the evenings we eat together. That is also the beauty of the sport, you also help each other. Oh look, there’s a competitor of mine, but we also keep it fun. That’s what it’s about.”
Young ponies
Flobbe is participating this year with two young ponies. At the start of the second day of competition, she is positive about the youngsters: “Yesterday it was dressage. My ponies did great, despite little experience. That we are now in second place is beyond expectations. How it goes on we’ll just have to look further.”
“Such an international competition consists of three parts,” explains Koopmans of the Equestrian Center Exloo. “It starts with dressage, then you do all kinds of exercises. Then follows the marathon, the most spectacular part. They first have to do a long distance ride of 45 minutes, then along six different obstacles. And finally there is a kind dressage with obstacles.”